3 convicted in anti-government militia plot receive 12 years

ROME, Ga. (AP) -- Authorities say three North Georgia men have been sentenced to prison in an anti-government militia plot.

The U.S. Attorney's office said in a news release Friday that Brian Cannon, Terry Peace and Cory Williamson were sentenced to 12 years each in prison for conspiring to use weapons of mass destruction.

U.S. Attorney John Horn said Peace wanted the pipe bombs designed for "maximum fragmentation."

The men are from Rome, Georgia.

FBI officials have said Peace, Williamson and Cannon participated in online chats about executing a militia operation against the government. Authorities say the chat was being monitored by federal agents, and the men spoke with a confidential informant who offered them 12 pipe bombs and two grenades.

Prosecutors say the men were arrested after the informant gave them fake explosives.